5 Ways Ideabooks Can Help to Bring Your Project Together
Check out all the ways this simple Houzz tool can inspire and organise your renovation or decorating project
If you’re not using Houzz Ideabooks to collate ideas for your upcoming project or to collaborate with professionals, you could be missing a trick.
This clever and easy-to-use tool can help you with everything from collecting initial ideas to communicating the details you like to your designer or contractor in a clear, collaborative way.
It will also help you to file and share useful information and conversations related to your project, keeping everything handily in one place.
This clever and easy-to-use tool can help you with everything from collecting initial ideas to communicating the details you like to your designer or contractor in a clear, collaborative way.
It will also help you to file and share useful information and conversations related to your project, keeping everything handily in one place.
To create an ideabook on a laptop, simply click on ‘Your Houzz’ next to your photo in the top right-hand corner of the homepage. Here, you’ll see ‘Your Ideabooks’; click on this, then press Create Ideabook. In the app, click Ideabooks at the bottom of the page then hit Create.
Simply choose to upload your own files – an architect’s plan, perhaps, or some pre-project photos of your house – or opt to ‘save photos from website’, which will take you to the huge Houzz library. Use the boxes you’ll see displayed to:
Simply choose to upload your own files – an architect’s plan, perhaps, or some pre-project photos of your house – or opt to ‘save photos from website’, which will take you to the huge Houzz library. Use the boxes you’ll see displayed to:
- Save photos
- Save products
- Save professionals
- Save stories
- Save discussions
- Save design dilemmas
Five ways you can use Ideabooks to further your project
1. To get a clear, visual idea of what you want to achieve
Often, the best way to start formulating a vision for your home project is through images.
On Houzz, you can browse more than 21 million photos for examples of colours, layouts, structural elements, tiles, flooring, garden planting styles, fences and much more, and save your selection to any number of Ideabooks.
An Ideabook is the perfect tool for collecting those dream house images and relevant references together in one place. You can then sit back and assess what you’ve got, which will start to reveal a clear idea of what you’re drawn to and the details that feel important to your project.
1. To get a clear, visual idea of what you want to achieve
Often, the best way to start formulating a vision for your home project is through images.
On Houzz, you can browse more than 21 million photos for examples of colours, layouts, structural elements, tiles, flooring, garden planting styles, fences and much more, and save your selection to any number of Ideabooks.
An Ideabook is the perfect tool for collecting those dream house images and relevant references together in one place. You can then sit back and assess what you’ve got, which will start to reveal a clear idea of what you’re drawn to and the details that feel important to your project.
2. To collaborate with a professional
Ideabooks are an invaluable resource at the very earliest stages of contact with a professional. Extending your kitchen? Search for examples of the features and ideas you’d love for your own home. This will really help a designer, architect or builder to understand what you hope to achieve and will provide a clear sense of your style.
As a project progresses, Ideabooks are also a practical and clear tool for collaborating on details, as well as being a fantastic way to keep projects moving remotely.
Homeowner Sue Mould made great use of Ideabooks when her interior designer, Clare Crabtree of ClaranDesign, worked on her kitchen.
“Clare would save images, so I could have a look and then respond according to whether it was something I liked or not,” Sue says. “It was a great way to share ideas.”
Clare found Ideabooks just as useful a tool. “Houzz made it easy for us to collaborate on the project,” Clare says. “You can create an Ideabook and post and edit the ideas… I’d post a picture [and say]: ‘Sue, I’ve just seen this in somebody’s house. Do you like it?’”
Watch now: See a video tour of the kitchen Clare designed for Sue and check out their Ideabooks in action.
Ideabooks are an invaluable resource at the very earliest stages of contact with a professional. Extending your kitchen? Search for examples of the features and ideas you’d love for your own home. This will really help a designer, architect or builder to understand what you hope to achieve and will provide a clear sense of your style.
As a project progresses, Ideabooks are also a practical and clear tool for collaborating on details, as well as being a fantastic way to keep projects moving remotely.
Homeowner Sue Mould made great use of Ideabooks when her interior designer, Clare Crabtree of ClaranDesign, worked on her kitchen.
“Clare would save images, so I could have a look and then respond according to whether it was something I liked or not,” Sue says. “It was a great way to share ideas.”
Clare found Ideabooks just as useful a tool. “Houzz made it easy for us to collaborate on the project,” Clare says. “You can create an Ideabook and post and edit the ideas… I’d post a picture [and say]: ‘Sue, I’ve just seen this in somebody’s house. Do you like it?’”
Watch now: See a video tour of the kitchen Clare designed for Sue and check out their Ideabooks in action.
“We ask our clients to create Ideabooks on Houzz so we can collaborate on the project,” interior designer Juliet Marsh of Marsh + Wiesenfeld says. “This is the easiest way for them to share photos they like and to give their feedback through comments. It really helps us to understand their vision.”
Juliet recalls redesigning a family house where it was important the two children were involved in the design of their bedrooms. They were given a lesson on using Houzz by Juliet and her partner, Judy Wiesenfeld, and were then tasked with creating their own Ideabooks. “This was very important, as they could show us what they wanted when they didn’t know how to describe it,” Judy says.
Juliet recalls redesigning a family house where it was important the two children were involved in the design of their bedrooms. They were given a lesson on using Houzz by Juliet and her partner, Judy Wiesenfeld, and were then tasked with creating their own Ideabooks. “This was very important, as they could show us what they wanted when they didn’t know how to describe it,” Judy says.
3. To check out professionals and save the ones you like
On the topic of Houzz professionals, you’ll notice there’s a company name in white in the top right-hand corner of your photos in certain views. The same information also pops up in a pane to the right of an image when you click into it.
If you like the style of a particular professional, you can check out more of their work and whether they operate remotely or are in your area by following the link on their company name. If you haven’t yet started your search for the perfect professional for your project, you could create an ideabook called ‘potential pros’.
You can also search for specific trades – bathroom designers, tile suppliers, smart home experts, electricians, architects and interior designers, to name just a few. Check out their portfolios and reviews on Houzz and save those you like the look of.
You can then contact these professionals directly through Houzz.
On the topic of Houzz professionals, you’ll notice there’s a company name in white in the top right-hand corner of your photos in certain views. The same information also pops up in a pane to the right of an image when you click into it.
If you like the style of a particular professional, you can check out more of their work and whether they operate remotely or are in your area by following the link on their company name. If you haven’t yet started your search for the perfect professional for your project, you could create an ideabook called ‘potential pros’.
You can also search for specific trades – bathroom designers, tile suppliers, smart home experts, electricians, architects and interior designers, to name just a few. Check out their portfolios and reviews on Houzz and save those you like the look of.
You can then contact these professionals directly through Houzz.
4. To build up relevant information
It’s not only photographs you can collect and share in an Ideabook; you can also save useful Stories you’d like to refer back to or ask your professional about before making a decision.
The Stories tab on Houzz contains a vast archive of invaluable renovation advice, inspiration and information that’ll help you to fully understand the stages or costs involved at the outset.
Relevant Houzz community Discussions and Design Dilemmas can also be saved to your Ideabook. These, along with other useful resources, such as Polls, can be found under the Advice tab, which is next to the Stories tab under the Houzz search bar on the homepage. Here, you can ask for help from the community.
You can then save the whole discussion to your project Ideabook, so all the information you need to move forward is in one place for easy reference.
It’s not only photographs you can collect and share in an Ideabook; you can also save useful Stories you’d like to refer back to or ask your professional about before making a decision.
The Stories tab on Houzz contains a vast archive of invaluable renovation advice, inspiration and information that’ll help you to fully understand the stages or costs involved at the outset.
Relevant Houzz community Discussions and Design Dilemmas can also be saved to your Ideabook. These, along with other useful resources, such as Polls, can be found under the Advice tab, which is next to the Stories tab under the Houzz search bar on the homepage. Here, you can ask for help from the community.
You can then save the whole discussion to your project Ideabook, so all the information you need to move forward is in one place for easy reference.
5. To save products you like
Browse an enormous collection of products from hundreds of retailers in categories from furniture to lighting, garden to housekeeping. See something you like? Pop it into an Ideabook!
Tell us…
How have you used Houzz Ideabooks for your projects? And do you have any questions about how to make the most of them? Let us know in the Comments.
Browse an enormous collection of products from hundreds of retailers in categories from furniture to lighting, garden to housekeeping. See something you like? Pop it into an Ideabook!
Tell us…
How have you used Houzz Ideabooks for your projects? And do you have any questions about how to make the most of them? Let us know in the Comments.
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An Ideabook is Houzz’s interactive tool for saving and sharing photos, ideas, products, notes, useful articles and relevant professionals’ profiles from the platform. Using the ‘invite’ button within an Ideabook lets you share it with family and friends, or you can keep it private for your own reference.
Crucially, you can also share Ideabooks with any professionals you may be working with on a project, or are thinking of hiring, to show them what you have in mind for your home or garden and to see any ideas they have for your scheme.
You can give other people permission to add their own items and notes to the ideabook, too, which makes communicating ideas between you, family members and professionals a breeze. All this also creates an invaluable project reference hub, whether you’re at the planning and ideas stage or heading towards the finishing touches.
Not sure which style to go for, or renovating more than one room? You can create multiple Ideabooks full of photos and information you might want to revisit. It’s simple to label them clearly – say, ‘dark-painted living rooms’ or ‘extension window seat ideas’ – so your research is easy to file and find.
For step-by-step Ideabook instructions, read this guide.